In 1844, the newly adopted Oregon constitution stated that “No free negro or mulatto not residing in this state at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside or be within this state or hold any real estate, or make any contracts, under penalty of law.” In 1860, Oregon’s black population was just 128 in a total population of 52,465.
World War II produced change in established norms. In 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States needed ships to fill its navy. Portland-Vancouver shipyards operated 24 hours per day, producing one Liberty ship each, per week. African Americans joined the thousands coming from cities and towns back east and the south to work in Swan Island and the Oregon Shipyards in Portland, and Kaiser Shipyard in Vancouver. Housing the workers became critical.
Vanport, an immense prefab housing complex was constructed on the site currently occupied by Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway. It became home to 40,000 people, about 40 percent of whom were African-American, making it Oregon's second-largest city at the time, and the largest public housing project in the nation.
Vanport was destroyed at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948, Memorial Day weekend, when a 200-foot (61 m) section of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood. Miraculously only 15 lives were lost.
When the war ended, many of the newcomers returned back east or to the south. However, many African Americans decided to stay here.
Realtors observed a red-line practice whereby African Americans were not allowed to buy property outside certain boundaries, basically Union Avenue to the west, Lombard to the north, NE 33rd to the east, and E Burnside to the south.
By 1950, the Albina area established itself as a thriving community with businesses, stores, churches, and neighborhoods. Don Frazier said, “It was a place where you knew everybody’s name”.
Albina was also known as “Jumptown” because of its vibrant night life and nationally recognized jazz scene.
In 1958, an Urban Renewal program was launched by the City of Portland to make possible the construction of the Memorial Coliseum, (now Moda Center), the Portland School District Administrative offices, and expansion of the Legacy Hospital, etc.
In the years following, most of the black jazz and blues clubs in Albina were wiped out by urban renewal. Eleven hundred homes and businesses owned by African Americans were claimed under “eminent domain” and demolished to make way for the new construction.
Residents forced out of their homes and businesses were left to find accommodations elsewhere. Many ended up in northeast and southeast Portland, separated from their community.
In 1950, the Albina district was home to 80% of Portland’s Black population. By the 1990s, that figure had dropped to just under 70%. Currently, the Black population hovers just shy of 30 %.
Speakers discussed efforts now underway to reverse some of the effects of Albina gentrification.
THE ALBINA VISION TRUST
The Albina Vision Trust plans to restore a 30-acre area into a version of the largely residential neighborhood that existed 60 years ago, before it was razed for construction of the Memorial Coliseum and other structures.
Led by Rukaiyah Adams (Chief Investment Officer with the Meyer Memorial Trust, and Zari Santner (former Portland Parks Bureau director) the Albina Vision Trust hopes to “rebuild a community, not just physical spaces but be honest about the destruction of this neighborhood, not back away from that history.”
According to Albina Vision Trust, “The plan will keep the Memorial Coliseum and Moda Center, but build new streets and buildings in the areas around them. It will also include a large cap covering I-5, Interstate Ave and the railroad tracks, stretching from NE Clackamas Street north to beyond NE Broadway Ave. and west to the riverfront It would provide public access to the river, create new buildings and streets, and move existing parking underground.”
The Legacy Hill Block Project, NE Russell Street and Williams Avenue:
On August 1, 2017, Prosper Portland, the Office of City of Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, and Legacy Health announced a collaborative project to develop the Hill Block property, a vacant 1.7 acre block currently owned by Legacy Health.
The Hill Block property is located within an area that Prosper Portland and the City of Portland condemned in the early 1970s under urban renewal for an expansion of the hospital campus.
This action displaced 171 families, 74 percent of whom were African American. Emanuel Hospital (now Legacy Health) purchased land. As reported by Vicki Guinn, Legacy Health System, “This land once housed the Hill Block building and was considered the heart of the Albina business community where many African Americans resided in nearby homes until urban renewal came in the 1960s. Though vacant for nearly 50 years, this plot of land still evokes painful memories for many African Americans who still talk about the unfair destruction and loss of their community.”
Mayor Ted Wheeler said, “The new project isn’t meant to make up for the past. It is to make clear that whatever ultimately is built on those properties will be done in collaboration with the community and will include projects that serve and support the community.”
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